The present invention relates to a V-ribbed belt which is applied in mechanical power transmission, and a method for manufacturing such a V-ribbed belt.
As for the method of manufacturing a V-ribbed belt, the following two are known. In one method, a rubber matrix arranged around a mold is cured, and then the belt surface thereof is ground to form ribs. In another method, i.e., in the so-called molding method, a rubber matrix is molded in a mold having a predetermined multi-ribbed structure and vulcanized or cured whereby a plurality of ribs is formed. The basic characteristics of a belt with the rib rubber material exposed on the rib surface, such as its power transmission performance, its slip noise properties and so on, are mainly determined by the physical properties of the materials on the rib surface, which in turn is affected by the rib rubber material and materials compounded into the rib rubber material, such as short fibers, etc. However, the rib surface deteriorates over time due to wear. In an application of the molding method, some types of belts are provided with a non-woven fabric on the rib surface as disclosed in PCT Japanese Translation Patent Publication No. 2005-532513, but these lack durability.